Infinitives
by Flibber T. Gibbet
Summary: Infinitives, journal entries, and two teens with a rivalry closer than most friendships. The story of how an English assignment, in a very roundabout way, brings Sasuke and Naruto from rivals to friends and maybe to something more. ---indefinite hiatus
1. To Hate: Naruto

Infinitives

Flibber T. Gibbet

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Well, my birthday is coming up... Is the ownership of Naruto too much to ask?

Warnings: eventual SasuNaru, AU, "bad words", uhm... and crappy writing

Notes: I have finally gathered the courage to write another multichap fic. My other multichap fic, The Companion, will be updated... sometime... But I promise I haven't abandoned it yet! It's the least I can do for **Inu'sEars**. However, if she deletes her fics, The Companion will be deleted too.

But this is all beside the point. Except for the fact that this first chapter is dedicated to **InuyashasEars**. -**hugs**-

You get yet another badly written, OOC high school fic from me! I totally blame my school for this idea. I'm **sick** of learning about infinitives in Spanish class. I mean forget learning about them in something like... say, English? Spanish?! With my psycho, sadistic teacher!

It's still not my birthday (I'm still only 13! Wah!) and I still haven't replied to reviews. I'm an awful, terrible, horrible, evil person who doesn't deserve to live.

I will really try to reply to _some_ this weekend, but all this homework is killing me. -**dies**-

Will shut up now and ramble more at the end.

Read and hopefully enjoy?

o

_To Hate_

It was a typical summer morning, birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and all was well.

Yeah right.

It was a typical summer morning, cars were honking and polluting the air, the sun was frying Konoha in a pan for breakfast, and two boys were yelling at each other for no apparent in front of their high school.

_Now_ all was well.

"I'll stop calling you a dobe when you stop acting like one, _dobe_," said a tall boy who was mostly hidden under the shade of a broad tree.

His shorter companion growled, his tanned face contorting into a scowl. His fierce expression was slightly marred by the sweat dripping down his face. Instead of standing in the shade of the tree with the taller boy, he had opted to stand under the sun, a decision he now regretted, feeling the hot rays beating down against the back of his neck. "You're such a bastard!"

Only those new to the Konoha school system bothered to even spare the two boys a second glance on their way inside and once they found out what had happened, they rolled their eyes and hurried to class so as not to be late for their class on the first day of school.

o

Inside the building, many pairs of devoted eyes carefully scrutinized the two boys through a newly cleaned window. These devoted eyes belonged to an equally devoted fan club for one of the two boys.

"Naruto is so stupid," complained a blonde girl. "Sasuke-kun shouldn't have to be bothered by him every day."

Murmurs of assent responded behind her. Next to the blonde stood a pink haired girl. She was in the precarious position of being the best friend of one boy and in love with the other. She just stared intently through the glass, hoping neither of them started a fight before the school year actually started. She hated having to clean up Naruto's wounds, though the vertically challenged, tanned teen tended to heal with surprising speed.

The five minute warning bell rang noisily throughout the school and students hurried to their class. The pink haired girl glanced out the window one last time at the boys who showed no sign of stopping their argument for school or anything or anyone else.

Sighing, she tugged on the sleeve of the blonde girl next to her, "C'mon, Ino, we better get to class before we're late."

"Yeah, let's go, Sakura." The two girls walked through the locker lined hallway to their first period class.

o

"Dobe," Sasuke called out, but Naruto continued his forceful rant about accidents, bastards, and the injustice of it all. The warning bell echoed as a backdrop. "Dobe!"

"What?!" asked Naruto testily, furious at the interruption.

"You're going to be late."

"You are too!" exclaimed Naruto, comforted by the fact that if he was going to be late, that Sasuke would be going down with him.

Sasuke smirked and sprinted towards the double doors of Konoha High School's main entrance.

"Teme!" yelled the blonde boy, racing to beat Sasuke to class.

o

According to Naruto, apparently the gods favored bastards. And Sasuke would do nothing to deny those accusations.

Because, as Naruto would point out, except for divine intervention, there was no way that the final bell would ring just as Sasuke entered the classroom_ on time_, making Naruto, who was mere inches behind him, late.

But that was exactly what happened. The two boys ran up three flights of stairs and sprinted down the hallway to their first class of the day. Sasuke had just entered the classroom, his face flushed from the exercise, when the bell rang. Naruto came rushing in behind him and ran into Sasuke, both boys falling to the ground. Another scuffle would have started if it had not been for their teacher pulling them apart.

"Sasuke-kun, good timing." Sasuke smirked victoriously and Naruto growled. Their teacher continued blithely, "Naruto-kun, you're late."

Naruto launched into a furious protest but was shushed by their teacher. "Since today is the first day, I'll cut you some slack. But, please don't make a habit of being tardy to my class, Naruto-kun."

A voice piped up in the background. "It's not like you're always on time, Kakashi-sensei. In fact, this _is_ the first time you've been on time!"

Their teacher, known for his prematurely silver hair and his mask that covered his entire face excepting for his right eye, smiled, his visible eye forming a curve. "Do what I say, not as I do, or something like that. Isn't that right, Kiba-kun?"

Kiba grumbled something that could have been taken as an agreement as Sasuke and Naruto chose their seats.

Out of the six empty seats that were spread across the room, the two boys chose the two that were both right next to each and the farthest from Kakashi-sensei.

It had always been like that for the past eight years. When Sasuke was in third grade, Naruto had moved to Konoha, and the two had formed a rivalry that was closer than most friendships. Through the years, their classmates had had to deal with the both of them and now, with their junior year of high school just starting, their dysfunctional relationship was one of the constants in everyone's life.

Kiba, who sat in front of Naruto, turned around and grinned. "Good to see you're still alive, man."

"You saw me this past weekend! It's just…" Naruto paused, which day of the week it was completely leaving his brain.

"Tuesday, dobe," supplied Sasuke, who was sitting to the left of Naruto. To his right were the windows.

"Don't interrupt, teme! Don't you know it's rude?" This exchange had occurred with Sasuke staring out the windows and Naruto still facing Kiba. Naruto continued, "It's Tuesday! Why would I be dead?"

Kiba tilted his head to Sasuke. "You're usually pretty beat up after he kicks your ass." Only the spiky hair of Sasuke's bluish black hair was visible, so no one caught the smug smirk on his face.

"He... You... My ass is never kicked!" Naruto's voice grew from a heated whisper to an angry cry.

"That's comforting to know, Naruto-kun, even though I'm sure Sasuke-kun would beg to differ," replied Kakashi.

"I was just trying to get to class and he ran into me-" Naruto exclaimed.

"He ran into me," corrected Sasuke, still facing the window.

"Stop lying, teme! And then he called me a dobe and-"

"The only out-of-school assignment that will be required in this class will be a journal in which you will write one infinitive describing your school day and a small entry elaborating. There are no other restrictions about topic or language used." Kakashi had tuned out the blonde, as had most of the class, and started explaining the year-long project. "Please show some form of creativity; don't use the same infinitive every day. Some repetition is allowed, though. And please keep it up to date, as I will be taking it up periodically to check your work."

"More like, whenever you remember to," retorted Sakura. Kakashi smiled again. His students knew that behind the laziness, he was one of the best teachers out there, making sure his students learned about the English language and retained that knowledge.

He added one last thing before returning to his infamous orange book, "Nothing too personal has to be divulged as I will be reading them. However, if you want to tell me what you did last summer... make sure you choose an appropriate infinitive!"

o

_To Hate_

_I hate that bastard._

_Uzumaki Naruto, 1/8/07_

o

Still a horribly short chapter. The chapters might get longer, but I'm not going to promise anything.

To clear up any confusion, I have no idea where this takes place. You have the Japanese suffixes and the "teme" and "dobe" and such, but all the school stuff is taken from my experience of American high schools. So, I'll just leave it up to you.

The chapters will probably be in third person POV, but at the end of the chapter, the jounal entry will alternate between Naruto and Sasuke. I'll put whose entry it will be in the chapter title.

And the date is in the day/month/year format. Why, I don't know.

Uhm... what else... I'm still 13... I have my laptop... Oh yeah!

It's soooo HOT here... I mean, it's passed a hundred for the past two weeks. I like the winter so much better...

I have a two inch or so burn on my left elbow-ish area where the **hot** iron fell on me. It blistered and then it popped and now it's all crusty and yellow and oozy. Pretty gross... I'm such a dork...

And anyone care to tell me some notable European (but they can't be Greek) mathematicians? We have this project in geometry and I have no idea where to start...

Sigh.

I really tend to talk too much, don't I?

I'm so sorry! Must put forth more effort into writing better stories and replying to reviews instead of extending my notes to preposterous lengths!

-**grin**-

Oh, and please review if this deserves a review!

her uke

ftg.


	2. To Admire: Sasuke

Infinitives

Flibber T. Gibbet

Rated: T

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto. Happy?

Warnings: nothing new, same as the first chapter

Notes: An update, an update, it's an update!

It wasn't too long, was it?

I'm hoping for weekly updates, but we'll see...

This is for **Strudel Ninja **who writes me happy reviews. Thank ye! Much love and hope you enjoy!

Read and hopefully enjoy this 2nd chapter!

-o-

_To Admire:_

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" The cafeteria was slowly filling up with students, ranging from the nervous freshmen hoping not to get squished like a bug on their first day to the seniors who had been seniors for many years now. "You've been rather quiet." Sakura gently kicked Naruto, who was sitting across from her.

"I'm fine, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned brightly. "I was just disappointed that there would be no ramen until the second week of school."

Sakura kicked Naruto again, though not quite as gently this time.

"You're shaking the table, Sakura," complained Ino.

"Well, isn't that just horrible?" retorted Sakura. She wondered why she and Ino were still friends; they seemed to fight more than they got along. _No, that's not true,_ Sakura mentally corrected herself,_Ino__ is one of the most loyal friends anyone could ask for._

To distract the two girls from the impending argument and mainly because he _really_,_ really_ wanted to, Naruto chose a particularly greasy fry from the bowl of greasy fries on his tray. Shutting one eye in concentration, he aimed for a rather conspicuous target. The fry hit the target perfectly and Naruto grinned smugly in accomplishment.

"Dobe. What is in my hair?" Sasuke enunciated each word clearly and ominously.

"What?" Naruto asked innocently. "I think it looks rather good."

A fry dangled from Sasuke's bluish black bangs, the smell of unhealthy fats pervading his hair. By this time, their entire table had turned from their conversations to see what Naruto had done now.

Kiba snorted. "Nice fry, Uchiha."

With unreasonable viciousness, Sasuke pulled out the fry and hurled it and Naruto who caught it in his open mouth.

"That's so gross, Naruto!" Naruto grinned and watched Sasuke's expression from the corner of his eye.

For some reason, seeing Sasuke's appreciative smirk made him grin even wider.

-o-

Sasuke considered his schedule to be decent. Not the best, but it could definitely be worse. First period, he had English with Kakashi. And Naruto. Second, he had chemistry with Tsunade. And Naruto. Third was physical education with Anko and Gai. And Naruto. After lunch, he had history fourth with Iruka. And Naruto. Fifth, he had calculus with Jiraiya. And Naruto. And for the last period of the godforsaken school day, he had study hall. With...

Why did he have every single class with the dobe?

That was a very good question, and he would go to the principal and complain. In third period.

Because apparently, no one really likes teaching teenagers, so the principal had to teach a subject.

He sighed. If anyone, for some reason, could hear his mental musings, they'd think he made up for his outward silence with extended ramblings in the confines of his mind. Which could be taken as a sign of insanity.

But, hell, if after eight years with the dobe, his sanity was the only casualty, he considered himself damn lucky.

-o-

Sixth period study hall. The most sought after class on the roster, only given to those who had completed a required credit beforehand. Study hall was the time to do homework, to complete projects, and... to drool while dreaming of the weekend.

Sasuke would hate to be the one who had to clean Naruto's saliva off the wooden table.

Naruto looked so innocent when he was asleep. His mischievous blue eyes were hidden and his perpetually grinning face was relaxed into a serene countenance. His bright hair fluttered slightly in the breeze from the air conditioner. Sasuke smiled a very small smile. Even with the drool dribbling down the side of Naruto's face, he looked rather cute sleeping like that.

Finishing his last problem on the math assignment, he dropped his pencil onto the table and shut the hideously heavy calculus textbook with a quiet thud and let out a soft sigh. Blinking the tiredness out his eyes, he stretched languidly in his chair, leaning it back on its legs. He glanced briefly at his watch. Forty-three minutes left of the first day of school.

First days had always been a big thing for Sasuke's family, but now, the first day of eleventh grade was more of let's-just-get-this-over-with kind of thing.

He sighed again, focusing his attention on the blonde moron drooling next to him. If Sasuke had been inclined to warm, fuzzy thoughts, he would have admitted that the said blonde moron was his best friend. But then again, it wasn't like he had much else choice. Naruto was the only one persistent enough or dumb enough to weasel his way into Sasuke's life. Because was it normal for your biggest rival to be your best friend too?

It was a pain to think about, requiring time and effort Sasuke didn't particularly want to put forth at that time.

-o-

Flashback:

"We have a new student, Uzumaki Naruto. Please welcome him and absolutely no bullying! I know what you did the last time we had a new student!" Their teacher knew he had a bunch of wicked eight-year-olds as students. His normally ruddy complexion paled as he remembered what the third grade class had done to their last new student. He peeked at the little boy standing nervously next to him, small and frail, and wished the blonde boy all the luck in the world.

His students were the most vicious horde of malicious children he had ever seen.

Truth be told, they frightened the shit out of him.

The blonde just smiled with almost impossible brightness and struck a "nice guy" pose.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, believe it!"

"You're an idiot, believe it!" mocked a dark-haired boy in the front row.

"Nuh uh! You're the idiot!" cried the blonde, but he was grinning.

"Sasuke! Naruto! Well, now that you've been introduced, why don't you sit in the seat behind Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun?" The teacher was torn between happiness that this new child would fit in and horror that this new child would fit in.

Naruto's innocent face scowled, but he picked up his faded orange backpack and trudged towards his new seat.

:End Flashback

-o-

Sasuke could remember the first time he saw Naruto with surprising clarity. He remembered hearing his teacher tell them about their new student and his warning to be nice. They had all alternately picked on and ignored their last student until he had just stopped coming to school anymore. And then he saw the future bane of his existence, a blonde boy with brilliantly blue eyes and golden hair. The short boy with a band aid on his knee seemed to be simultaneously innocent and lost and a mischievous and annoying. His mere presence irritated Sasuke and he reacted instinctively to Naruto's words.

Time hadn't changed Naruto very much. He was still short and beneath the hem of his khaki shorts, a bright green band aid covered a scrape on his knee. His hair was still bright gold and his eyes were still a brilliant blue, untouched by worry. And his simple existence still elicited a response from the normally stoic Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced at his watch again and raised his hand to hit Naruto awake. His hand was centimeters away from Naruto's head when a tanned hand grabbed his.

"Don't even think about it, bastard. I'm up," snapped Naruto sleepily. He wasn't the nicest person right after he woke up.

The bell rang, and Sasuke gathered his books while Naruto raced out of the library. So when Sasuke left the library, he was surprised to see Naruto playing with the locks on the lockers across the hall from the library doors.

"Waiting for me, dobe?" Sasuke asked, smirking.

Naruto flushed but retorted with a witty, "Don't flatter yourself, teme."

There was an awkward silence.

"Let's race," said Naruto suddenly.

"First one to our cars," added Sasuke.

"Deal." Naruto grinned and Sasuke smirked.

There was a slight pause before the two boys sprinted down the hall and to the student parking lot.

-o-

_To Admire:_

_Naruto is an idiot. I know that, he knows that, everyone knows that. And, in addition, he's annoying. But... there's something about him that I have to admire. And Kakashi, if you make any comment about this__ entry__... Well, I know where you live. I know _quite a bit_ about you._

_Uchiha Sasuke, 1/8/07_

-o-

Sigh. I tried my best to make this longer than the previous chapter, and it barely made it. I didn't want to extend this chapter too much for the fear of making it sound too dragged out. And on that topic, does the quality of this chapter seem worse than the previous one?

I can't write. It's pathetic, really.

High school is going to kill me before I graduate. There's still a week until my birthday. For how much longer must I be 13?! It's horrible the way my friends look at me when they find out I'm still 13. Does my writing reflect my age?

And my burn is healing. Doesn't look as gross anymore...

And I now have a Facebook account! Yay. So, friend me if you like my fics!

Please? I like friends. ::nods pitifully:: And if you decide to friend me (I love you!), please tell me you're from and give me a link to your fanfiction profile.

The link to my Facebook account is on my profile.

I really feel like I'm forgetting something...

Sigh.

Well, review if this deserves a review,

ftg.


	3. To Remember: Naruto

Infinitives:

Flibber T. Gibbet

Rated: T

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Warnings: same as 1st chapter and some angst. **Cheerfulest**, I hope it's not too much or unnecessary. I was worrying the entire time I was writing, if this would be too much or not...

Notes: I AM SO VERY, VERY SORRY. I know I told you I was aiming for weekly updates, but life has been hell lately and it doesn't seem likely that's going to change anytime soon. And this chapter took forever to write. I'm starting to lose track of where you want, so all ANY ideas would be loved, adored, worshipped, whatever you want! I'll update as soon as I can, but I don't think I can promise anything. Once again, I'm really sorry and I doubt my writing is good enough to make up for my delay.

This is for **Kaikouken**, whom I love bunches and bunches and bunches. And miss terribly. Check out her fics! You won't be disappointed!

On to the chapter! Read and hopefully enjoy!

-o-

_To Remember:_

"You cheated!" Naruto pointed his finger at the smirking teen accusatorily.

"No, you're just pissed because you lost." Sasuke carelessly pushed Naruto's finger away from his face.

"I'm pissed because you cheated!" Their race from the library had been a close one, but Sasuke had won, a fact Naruto now was protesting vehemently.

"How does running faster than you constitute as cheating?"

A sullen silence met Sasuke's logic. The two boys leaned against their cars, panting slightly from their intense race. Often times, their gym teacher and school track coach had asked them to run for the track team, but it never seemed right. They only ran their best against each other.

The morning's scorching heat had given way to a stifling humidity. Heavy clouds darkened the sky. A sudden roar of thunder sounded through the sky. A spasm of fear flitted across Naruto's face.

"Sigh." Naruto straightened and pushed his hair out of his eyes, gazing at the taller boy lazily.

"Sigh?" queried Sasuke skeptically.

"Yes... sigh."

"You're such a dobe." Sasuke had to resist the urge to kick Naruto, who had now leaned back against the car and shut his eyes.

"And why is that, teme?" He supposed it would be interesting to see what he had done this time to make Sasuke call him a dobe. But, then again, when did Sasuke ever need a reason to insult him?

"Who actually says 'sigh'?"

"I do, teme. I 'gasp' too." Naruto opened his eyes.

"My point, exactly. Normal people sigh; they don't say the word 'sigh'. They perform the action of sighing."

Sasuke's serious, yet condescending, explanation left Naruto in silence for a few seconds. It wasn't long, though, before Naruto started laughing loudly. "I say one word, and you get all pissy on me."

"I don't get pissy, dobe," retorted Sasuke defensively, his face coloring slightly.

"Oh yes you do. If I say you do, then you do." Naruto felt like he had won this particular battle.

"And this is coming from the midget who says 'sigh'?"

"Just shut about the sigh thing already, teme!"

"And _I'm_ the one getting pissy?" No, no, Sasuke had definitely one this one too.

"I'm going home," Naruto announced abruptly. "I want to get home before the storm hits." He glanced up the darkening sky with wariness. "Bye."

Sasuke nodded in return, and the two teens got into their cars, Naruto leaving the student parking lot just before Sasuke. Sasuke honked the horn and had the satisfaction of seeing Naruto jump in shock. He let his head fall back against the seat with a light thud. That had been extremely childish of him, but Naruto always seemed to incite those sorts of reactions out of him.

-o-

Sasuke peered through his windshield, the repetitive motion of the wipers reflected in his dark eyes. Rain beat down upon the asphalt, making driving near impossible. He suddenly felt very tired and had to force his eyes to stay open. Sleepiness in these conditions could very easily equal accidents, injuries, and even death.

He pressed a button on his steering wheel and deafening music shook his car. Scowling, he jabbed the volume button to lower the din, but with all his focus on the road, Sasuke hit the wrong button and the noise only grew in volume. He twitched and tried again, this attempt more successful than the last, the music quieting to a dull roar over the incessant beating of the rain.

The music, which he had hoped would keep him awake, only made him feel even sleepier. He groaned. _Of all the days to be tired, it had to be today... _

-o-

Focusing on the road, he almost missed the silver car that was parked on the shoulder. A sense of dread washed over him as he recognized the stationary vehicle. Momentarily forgetting about the torrential rain, he parked behind the silver car and got out of his car. As soon as he stepped out the dry warmth of his car, the rain soaked him mercilessly, but he was oblivious to the world as he walked to the silver car with long, harried strides.

He wasn't sure why he was so worried. He had no reason to be. It wasn't as if they were particularly close. _That's__ not true, and you know it. __He's__ clo__ser to you than anyone else_, the voice in his head argued. He ignored its words and knocked on the window, glimpsing a motionless figure with a shock of blonde hair in the driver's seat. Willing his chest to stop throbbing, he went to the passenger's side and tried the door. He sent a silent thanks to the gods as the door opened.

He slid in the passenger's seat and shut the door quickly before the car's interior could be soaked. The constant noise of the rain stopped abruptly with a thud as the door shut and gave way to a stifling silence inside the car. He turned to the blonde in the driver's seat. Naruto was leaning back against the seat, his eyes closed tightly, his mouth whispering inaudible apologies, and his fists clenched.

_I'm__ really not the best person for this, _Sasuke thought once again, but he still gently laid his hand on Naruto's shoulder. He flinched under the touch but relaxed, still not opening his eyes.

Encouraged, Sasuke spoke. His voice cracked the first time, indistinct against the pouring rain and thunder. He cleared his throat and tried again, his words louder this time. "Naruto?" There was no response, but he persisted. "Naruto. Naruto. C'mon, dobe, what's wrong? It's way too stormy outside to be sitting here. With all the insane drivers in this city, I'm surprised you haven't been hit yet." And, indeed, he was surprised. All of the blurred headlights he had seen had just passed by.

"I don't like storms." Naruto's voice was surprisingly frail and vulnerable, shocking Sasuke out his partial daze. "My parents died in a storm. And it was my fault that they died."

Whatever Sasuke might have been expecting from Naruto, it definitely wasn't this abrupt confession. He opened his mouth to speak but shut it again, unable to find an adequate response.

Naruto didn't seem to mind, though. He started talking again, his words rushing into each other in a furious effort to get this burden off his chest. "I was seven or so; it was just before I moved here. I had a television show I really wanted to watch... I still remember that it was about ninjas... My dad was late picking me up from school-he was always busy with his work but still made time each day for me-and-him time. It had been dark all day long and it had just started raining when I saw his car pull up. My mom was in the passenger seat, and they both smiled at me when I got in. I just scowled, because I knew that it would be almost impossible for me to be able to watch the entire show. My dad asked me what was wrong, and I just grumbled. They both kept on asking me, and I told them about the show. My dad laughed and started to drive faster, saying that he would get home on time, if it was the last thing he did. He winked at me in his rear view mirror. It started raining harder ... And well, they're dead now."

"I..."

"I was the only one to survive that wreck. Twelve people in five cars, and I was the only one to survive. You know what the shitty thing is?"

Sasuke shook his head numbly, knowing that Naruto wouldn't see the action.

Naruto continued, "I didn't know the show I wanted to watch came on twice that day. I watched it in my hospital room, hating the show, because it made me kill my parents."

"You didn't kill your parents," whispered Sasuke hoarsely. He felt horrible, not just for Naruto, but because he met his closest person -_funny what you'd admit at times like these-_ because his parents died.

If Naruto's parents had survived, then most likely, Sasuke would have never met the blonde. And having known Naruto, he didn't know if he could live without him.

But if he had never known Naruto, then he wouldn't have known what he had lost, because there was no comparison to make between life with and without Naruto, because Naruto wouldn't exist to him. Which probably made no sense at all.

"I don't like driving in the rain. I don't like the rain, period." Naruto opened his eyes and turned his head to Sasuke. Dark bangs hid Sasuke's pale features, but Naruto imagined that Sasuke's brow would be furrowed in intense concentration and perhaps, Sasuke would be biting his lip, trying to solve the quandary that seemed to be Naruto.

Naruto turned his head back to the front and let his vision blur into a hazy mass of rain and the bright lights of passing headlights and the flashes of lightning.

_If someone had to have found me, then I suppose I'm glad that it was the bastard_, Naruto thought, his eyes now following invisible patterns on the ceiling. _Anyone else would be asking questions that I __don't__ particularly want to answer._

Sasuke looked at Naruto suddenly. "Get your crap, dobe, and get into my car."

"What the hell?! Are you trying to kidnap me or something?"And here Naruto was, just thinking that he was glad to see Sasuke, when the bastard tries to kidnap him!

Sasuke took a deep breath, deciding that hitting Naruto right now wouldn't be the best idea. "Dobe. You are in no position to drive right now. I have a car. Following a concept foreign to you called _logic_, I decided, that being the kind, caring, all around wonderful person I am, I would drive you home. No kidnapping involved."

Naruto didn't say anything, but picked up his bag and followed Sasuke to his car. The rain had lightened considerably, but the two teens were still soaked walking the few meters between the cars.

Naruto opened the passenger side door and dropped his bag into the backseat. Sasuke was sitting in the driver's seat, talking on a grey cell phone. He ended the conversation, shut the phone, and slid it into his pocket as Naruto slid into the passenger seat. The warmth of the car contrasted with the iciness of the rain, and Naruto felt his face flush with blood, even after only a minute in the rain.

"I called my brother and he said he would drop your car off at your house."

Naruto nodded, still not feeling entirely himself after the sudden flashback in his car not even an hour ago. He wondered what had brought about this abrupt recollection. _It was around this time..._ Naruto sighed and noticed that the rain was receding to a moderate shower. The sound of the rain became a soothing, sleepy lullaby... And it had been a long day... _And__ why doesn't my car have seats as comfortable as Sasuke's car?_ was his last thought before he drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

Sasuke looked at Naruto to see the blonde sleeping once again. Sighing, he ignored the next turn and continued home.

-o-

Naruto woke up in a soft, _warm_, comfortable, and most importantly _warm_ bed and knew he couldn't be at his home. Because nowhere in the four rooms that made up his apartment was a bed this soft and _warm_. Leaning up on his elbows, he saw a clock whose flashing red digits read an unbelievable early 6:15 A.M. A folded piece of paper rested on top of the clock and he reached out to grab it. He saw his name written on the front in a sparkly purple pen. He rubbed his eyes, but the ink was still a sparkly purple. He unfolded the paper, noting the perfect creases with no unnecessary wrinkles.

_Dobe.__ The pen __was not willingly chosen__, so no comments. Itachi took all my pens and left this in its place._ Naruto didn't believe that -it was so much likely that Sasuke had a secret fetish for sparkly purple ink. _I DO NOT HAVE A FETISH FOR __SPARKLY INK IN LUDICROUS COLORS, so __don't__ even think that. __But__, then again, that was probably the first thought that crossed your mind. In case you are stupider than I had previously anticipated, welcome to the Uchiha abode. I __didn't__ want to drop you off at the steps to your apartment because you'd probably die of pneumonia and I'd be blamed, and I don't want to be bothered by a lawsuit right now. Your car is in the driveway. Taking you excessive sleeping habits into account, enjoy being late to school once again. I suppose __I'll__ be seeing you whenever you arrive._ **What a bastard**, Naruto thought. They knew each other too well. But he supposed he owed Sasuke a thank you. _You're__ welcome, dobe. Just __don't__ make it in a habit. –Sasuke_

Naruto grinned and promptly fell back asleep.

-o-

He was indeed late to school, but only by ten minutes. Sakura, who was waiting for him at the door to their homeroom, hit him. Luckily, Kakashi-sensei had started his trend of chronic tardiness and arrived as homeroom was about to dismiss.

The rest of the day passed with relative peace and soon Naruto was at home, lying on his hard and _cold_ bed. Enjoying the lack of homework that was associated with the first week of school, he remembered his journal and pulled it out of his backpack from under his bed.

-o-

_To Remember:_

_It seems __it's__ best to remember things when bastards around. Who knew? __Definitely not me._

_Uzumaki Naruto, 2/8/07_

-o-

I don't particularly like this. It's turning out pointless, like everything else. A point... I once had a point...

Does it make sense? Parts of it seem awkward and disjointed. And where the hell am I going to go from here? -cries-

Sigh. Oh, yeah. That part came from a conversation between the guy who sits next to me in chemistry and me. Well, it wasn't that detailed, but the general idea comes from there. I actually say "sigh". What else?

Well, I'm finally 14. Yay. I post a lot of fics saying that I'll turn 14 soon, but once I actually turn 14, I stop posting. Weird, aren't I?

As a birthday present, review? Please?

Well, only if this deserves a review.

This chapter is longer than the others; perhaps, this trend will continue. But I need ideas!

I have no promise for the next update, because I need an idea then I'll have to find to time to write it. God, high school is crazy. I can't handle three more years of this. But, except for the fact I have no time to write, I'm really enjoying it though. I feel so grown up! -.-

Well, see you sometime...

I think that's it.

much love

ftg.


	4. To Laugh: Sasuke

Infinitives

Flbber T. Gibbet

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters. And I'm not making any money of this either.

Warnings: OOCness (meaning the characters in this chapter will not only be different from the manga/anime, they will also be different from the characters that were in the last three chapters), plotless as of yet

A/N: This is for everyone who has reviewed any of my stories. Hell, this is for anyone who has read any of my stories. I write for you. Thank you. No, seriously. You are amazing in every sense of the word.

In particular, this is for **Azamiko**, because you are amazing, and I don't think I've ever told you that.

(This is my just written copy. If everything goes well, I'll soon replace this chapter with one that has been edited.. Bear with me on the minor errors, and tell me about the massive ones?)

((Annie Leibovitz is a famous photographer, and Gottfried Leibniz is considered one of the founders of calculus.))

-o-

Sasuke hated singing. He did not have the time or the patience for it. So he said.

This could be because he had no talent whatsoever at the vocal arts.

The point is that he didn't like singing. He also didn't like being woken up; he was a big boy and he could wake himself up, thank you very much.

Thus it was the most devastating combination when he was woken by someone's singing.

Oh, and he didn't like Naruto either.

So it was even worse when Naruto was the one singing.

"Mm gnnnaahh kkkkllll ooooo," Sasuke threatened into his pillow. He heard someone laugh victoriously somewhere near his head, and he jabbed his arm out to his side.

The person groaned, and Sasuke smirked into his pillow. He turned over and was blinded by a shock of blond hair.

"Why are you in my house?" asked Sasuke, not fully awake enough to be angry.

"Don't you remember how we met at the bar last night and hit it off almost immediately and we came back here and… you don't remember, do you? Oh dear…," Naruto trailed off, looking at Sasuke sheepishly.

The teen in bed looked entirely flummoxed, and Naruto broke character to snicker wildly. "I'd imagine that a one-night stand with you would be a scarring experience," he stated wisely.

"Think about it much?" Sasuke retorted, and Naruto tilted his head and quirked his lips.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

And after that comment, an awkward silence fell. In all the years they had known each other, they had never breached this topic for the sake of their banter. But neither decided to dwell on it long, and it was mere moments before Sasuke realized exactly who was in his room.

"Why are you in my house?" Sasuke replied impatiently.

"Your brother invited me."

"My brother…"

"Yes, the long-haired dude who looks eerily like you."

"Why?"

"He wanted to, I suppose."

"It's Saturday. I'm supposed to have a weekend without you," pointed out Sasuke.

"Pish posh, this is ideal bonding time."

'What do you want?"

"I need to do the research paper in math."

"I don't have to do a research paper and we're in the same class," replied Sasuke, but as he spoke he remembered the paper Naruto was talking about. About the so-called creators of calculus, Newton and Leibniz, it had been assigned close to a month ago, and it was due this coming week. He had finished it at least two weeks ago, and of course, Naruto hadn't even started it yet.

"The one on Newton and… Leibovitz," clarified Naruto.

Sasuke sat up in bed and stared intently at the blond next to him. He blinked once, twice, but no, for once, Naruto was being sincere.

But he had to make sure. "You're not joking, are you?"

"No!" exclaimed Naruto earnestly. At his words, Sasuke sunk his head mournfully.

"Leibovitz, the great and glorious founder of calculus, no?"

"Yes!"

"And Leibniz is the famous photographer?" queried Sasuke, scratching his chin nonchalantly.

"Er, sure…"

"No. You are a hopeless idiot. Even if I did want to help you, I don't think I could," replied Sasuke decisively.

"What? Why?"

"Get out of my room."

"Why?"

"Because, _dobe_, I want to get out of bed."

"So?"

"So, I sleep in the nude."

Naruto stood there for a moment, before running out of the room screaming.

Sasuke grinned as he lifted the sheets, stood up, and straightened his boxers.

-o-

When he entered the kitchen, his amusement vanished almost instantaneously.

The first thing he noticed was the laughter. No one in his family particularly enjoyed mornings, and they didn't laugh even when they were in the best of moods.

Yet, the sound of laughter was unmistakable.

The next thing he noticed was the feet on the table.

This also was terrifyingly surprising, because like the laughter, no one in his family put their feet on the table.

And the third, and possibly most horrifying, thing he noticed was the blond teen sitting in his chair, eating toast, spilling crumbs, and _chatting _with his brother.

No, that was a lie. That wasn't the most horrifying thing. Oh, how he wished it was though.

The most horrifying thing was the sight of his mother smiling in a motherly way as she gave the blond teen a jar of marmalade. And then she ruffled his hair. Affectionately.

"Sasuke! You're up. Toast for breakfast. But I gave Naruto the edge pieces of bread. He loves them too. What a coincidence!"

No. It was not a coincidence.

It was pure evil in the form a grinning boy.

"You lied to me," accused Evil Incarnate. "Itachi said you sleep in your boxers!" The crumb crusted mouth frowned

"And how would he know?" asked Sasuke sulkily.

"He's your brother," replied Naruto, at the same time Itachi answered, "I'm your brother."

His mother beamed over the two, and it took all of Sasuke's restraint to keep from strangling Naruto.

"Thanks for the breakfast, but Naruto and I have to go research his paper," muttered Sasuke. Naruto brightened.

"The one about Newton and Leibovitz?" queried Itachi, his lips curved slightly.

"Yes." Leibovitz. Honestly.

"Have fun, boys. Will you be back for lunch? Or dinner, perhaps, since it is close to noon anyway? We'd love to have you for dinner, Naruto," said Mikoto.

Naruto looked stricken, and Sasuke almost wanted to laugh. The idiot probably thought that they wanted to eat him.

"Yes, I believe he'll join us for dinner," answered Sasuke, ignoring Naruto's confused glance. "Off to the library, _dobe_," he announced, dragging the blond by the sleeve.

The last thing Sasuke heard was his brother saying, "_Dobe_, he calls him. What a little bully."

Bully. Yeah. As if Naruto didn't deserve it.

-o-

"I can't find Leibovitz, Sasuke. Why isn't he in here?"

"First of all, he is a she."

"But… it was two guys who invented calculus."

"Perhaps Leibovitz is really a female who is a famous photographer."

"Then who invented calculus, dammit?"

"Leibniz."

"Shit, you serious? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

--

"There. Five pages, typed, Times New Roman, twelve-font, double-spaced, MLA format. It's beautiful."

"It's three pages."

"No!" cried Naruto indignantly. "It's five! Or can't you count that high?"

"You cheated."

"I did not," he argued weakly.

"Oh, and making the spaces between words and the punctuation a larger size is, in fact, completely ethical?"

"Ethics has nothing to do with it," pointed out Naruto.

"Besides the point," countered Sasuke.

"I'm hungry." And Sasuke took the comment for what it was. A concession.

-o-

"Sasuke," Naruto called out hesitantly. They were in Sasuke's car on the way back to his house for the dinner Mikoto had promised Naruto.

"What?"

"I don't want your parents to hate me." He sounded very sober, enough that Sasuke turned to glance at him briefly.

"They… won't hate you," Sasuke said reluctantly. He hated reassuring people. Especially when people meant Naruto. "My mother seems to be in love with you already."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

-o-

"Fugaku, have you met Naruto? He and Sasuke have been close friends since they met in the third grade," said Mikoto, beginning a night of untruths. Sasuke barely kept from spitting out his water at the blatant exaggeration. "Would you like some more corn, Naruto?"

"Yes, please, thank you," replied Naruto very politely. More politely than Sasuke had ever seen Naruto act before.

"Naruto, you seem like an honest boy," began Itachi, glee evident in his dark eyes. "I'd love to hear what Sasuke is like at school."

"Oh, boy, where should I start?"

"At the beginning, I'd presume," answered Fugaku, who was leaning forward, interested in this new conversation.

Naruto shoveled forkfuls of food into his mouth and chewed hurriedly. Almost before he swallowed, he started talking. "When I first met Sasuke, he mocked me. And then later, I punched him. We got into a pretty intense fight for third graders, I must say." Mikoto looked worried, so he added, "I was perfectly fine afterwards, though; Sasuke isn't that great of a fighter." Itachi smirked and glanced at his brother, who was cutting his piece of chicken into very small pieces with a very sharp knife.

Sasuke was furious. Naruto had left that fight with a loose tooth and a black eye. He remembered very clearly, because he had made fun of Naruto still having his baby teeth in third grade. Sasuke had, of course, lost all his baby teeth long before third grade.

But he didn't say anything. Let Naruto have his one night of false glory.

He was surprised. Naruto regaled Sasuke's family with tales that showed his surprising talent at understatement.

"Yeah, in sixth grade, I think, we were assigned to be partners for the science fair, and we quarreled, but we ended up winning second place, which was pretty cool."

Quarreled? Sasuke had sat on Naruto's chest for a good half hour while he finished the project, and then he had tinkered with the board, laughing quietly. But, sure, whatever Naruto wanted to say.

"Our freshman field day was one of the greatest field days in the history of the school according to our principal. We had this massive water balloon fight—"

Sasuke didn't listen to the rest of the story, busy remembering the day for himself. It had been a day of various events, most of which he had excelled in, and to close the day, there had been a water balloon fight. It was supposed to be a fun-filled, friendly activity, but it was epic in the greatest sense of the word. Within a few minutes, it had escaped the boundaries and encompassed all of the school grounds. A rare alliance between Sasuke and Naruto had formed, and it was the two of them against the rest of the grade.

It had been beautiful.

"Has he told you about last year's end-of-year formal?"

Mikoto shook her head, enraptured by this alternate side of her younger son. "He just came back in his gym pants, saying someone had spilled punch on his slacks.

"He was the life of the party," said Naruto simply, grinning at Itachi, who grinned back.

Oh God, the sophomore formal. Naruto and his friends had spiked the punch, and all the girls (who were suspiciously thirsty that night) wanted to kiss him. Normally, Sasuke could have escaped their rapacious clutches, but Naruto had painted a thin but deadly layer of super glue on his chair. So for most of the night, he had been a sort of free kissing booth, until he had climbed out of his pants and ran to his locker in his boxers.

Sasuke remembered most clearly that on his walk home, he had to fight the most disturbing urge to laugh. Looking at the night objectively, the prank had been close to brilliant.

Focusing his attention to the present, he noticed that his mother was laughing. It was a beautiful sound, one that he wished he heard more often. His brother was laughing too, a lower sound. And even his father was chuckling quietly. His family was… animated. And in the center of it all was a beaming Naruto.

"Sasuke, I'm afraid we're going to put you up for adoption and make Naruto our son instead," his mother teased. Itachi nodded his agreement, and he froze.

Logically, Sasuke knew that his mother was just kidding. But that took a few minutes to sink in.

His mother? Teasing? You're in public; no hyperventilating, please. For the sake of decorum.

"I never caught why you joined us today, Naruto," stated Fugaku when there was a lull in conversation. "I do not mean that your company has been a burden," he added politely yet sincerely.

"Yes, I was quite surprised when you showed up at our doorstep. We rarely see you, the boy my brother talks about constantly."

"He talks about me?" Naruto asked, surprise tainting his voice.

"Oh, yes, even in his sleep."

Sasuke made a strangled noise and made to stab Itachi underneath the table. However, Itachi grabbed the fork before it was forced into his leg, and his mother gave them both a warning glance.

"I thought you said Itachi had invited you, Naruto," said Sasuke, recalling the conversation in his bedroom.

"He invited me in," clarified Naruto. "I came because I needed help on my math project. Did you know that all our classes are exactly the same?" he asked the table.

This spawned a whole new conversation, and Sasuke went back to cutting up what remained of his dinner into very small pieces.

-o-

"Naruto! Happy belated birthday! I tried calling your house and wishing you a happy birthday, but I kept on getting your voicemail. Oh, and by the way, you really need to record a new message. How old is it? Three, four years?" Sakura smiled as Naruto entered homeroom and dropped his books at his desk.

"Five," muttered Naruto sheepishly.

"Exactly," said Sakura victoriously. "Anyway, where were you Saturday?"

"Spent time with a friend," he replied vaguely, and Sakura left it at, letting Naruto keep his secrets.

Sasuke froze in his seat, and the pencil he was twirling fell to the desk.

The first thought in his mind was _'Saturday was his birthday?'_, and the next was _'A friend?'_

But he didn't dwell on it for too very long. Because would you really tell someone that you willingly spent your birthday with your worst enemy?

-o-

_To Laugh:_

_I don't laugh easily. Actually, I never laugh. Have you heard me laugh? I suppose you have, but I'm quite sure that I was still in diapers when you heard that. And no, I, in fact, don't still wear diapers. I'm rather happy with my boxers. _

_I don't laugh. Why? I'm not quite sure. It has always sounded slightly… off to me. I've been amused, yes, rather frequently at that. And for various reasons. Granted, most of the time, I'm amused because someone did something unbelievably ridiculous. And granted, that person is usually Naruto. _

_But he, surprisingly enough, doesn't have a monopoly on stupidity. _

_And even more surprisingly, that's not the only way he amuses me. I don't know how to explain. Why are you amused? If something is funny? He does… funny things. And I think if I was prone to laughing, I'd be laughing most of the time I was with him. Which is a very odd thought. _

_Ah, this no longer has a point. What a pity. _

_If I were to guess what the point was, I'd have to say that Naruto needs to leave me alone and get another poor fool to pick on._

_Sasuke, 12/10/07  
_

_(That is not to imply that I'm a poor fool.)_

* * *

Oh my God, why have I never realized what an awesome word 'marmalade' is? I am in love. Marmalade. Marmalade. Mar_ma_lade! Ahahaha. And the dates aren't going to match up... Probably. Like August 1st wasn't a Tuesday and October 12th wasn't a Monday in the same year. And not in 2007... Please ignore that. If it really bothers you, I'll try to change it.

Other than that...

Yes… it's been over a year since I last posted anything. And I'm sorry. Really. But I'm back. Doing WriYe, so I need the words. So hopefully, I won't be gone for as long anymore. But then again, if you don't trust me, I understand that too.

This still doesn't have a plot, and it seems very random, and it's pretty short… Not that I write long chapters anyway.

(Random plug: Check out my FictionPress stories, please?)

Ideas, comments, questions, anything. Let me know you read this. On a side note, I got 24 reviews last chapter which still makes giddy. Can you get to 75 this time? I'm not going to drop the story if you don't, but I was just wondering.

I love you. (haha, I say that right after I ask for reviews… that wasn't intentional, really) But I've missed you all. I was reading my reviews, and like I said before, you people are amazing.

ftg.


End file.
